A. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of establishing communication rates for communication systems, and more specifically to a system and method for dynamically determining phone rates for an individual customer.
B. Background of the Invention
Phone consumers have many choices for long distance vendors as well as various options for alternative vendors for voice communications through satellite, cable operators, and internet telephony. Choosing the lowest cost carrier for a call is a difficult task involving predicting a calling pattern and matching the many calls against the complex rate plans of the different vendors to determine the lowest average cost. As a result, consumers often do a simple comparison on their more common call destinations and choose a carrier on this basis.
Many communication vendor pricing plans such as MCI Friends and Family(trademark) and ATandT One Rate(trademark) take advantage of this behavior. This type of pricing plan is not unique to the communication industry but is the rationale behind supermarket loss-leader advertising. However, such pricing plans are traditionally geared to the public in general or specific groups, or if individualized, was in the form of a specific exception to the rate plan.
The emergence of multiple transport and gateway vendors along with advances in billing technology, especially with pre-paid phones, allow highly individualized rate plans tailored to the calling pattern of the caller.Accordingly it is desirable to provide a system and method that can determine a telephone call rate for various destinations based on the calling patterns of a consumer.
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies and limitations of the prior art with a unique system and method for determining an individual phone rate for a user from an originating device to a destination device. The system for determining an individual phone rate for a user preferably comprises a user calling pattern information module, a destination gateway provider module, a margin multiplier calculator module, and an individual rate calculator module. The user calling pattern information module stores information about the user such as the destinations the user calls or desires to call frequently and the percentage of time the user calls or plans to call the frequently called destinations. Such information may be inputted directly from the user or may be determined from the user""s historical billing records. The destination gateway provider information module stores information relating to the cost and profit margin of the provider servicing the connection to the destination device. For example, the destination gateway provider may store such information as the fixed cost for establishing a connection to the destination device as well as the normal margin for a call to the destination device. The margin multiplier calculator module determines a margin multiplier for a call by the user to the destination device. The individual rate calculator module uses the margin multiplier, the destination gateway provider information, and the user calling pattern information to determine a call rate to the destination for the user. In one embodiment, the call rate to the destination is determined by multiplying the margin multiplier with the normal margin for the call to the destination and adding the result to the fixed cost of the call to the destination.
The margin multiplier may be determined in a number of ways depending on the interest and business goals of the communication service provider. Additionally, a margin multiplier for selected desirable destinations and for other non-selected destinations may be calculated. In one embodiment, the margin multiplier is determined using a two-tier rate plan. In another embodiment, the margin multiplier is determined using a linear rate plan. A minimum margin multiplier may also be used to calculate the margin multiplier. In another embodiment, the margin multiplier is determined using an exponential ratio.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention may be better understood by considering the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention. In the course of this description, reference will be frequently made to the attached drawings.